By Joshua Kirby
Business sentiment sank in January in Germany, offering further proof that the eurozone’s most important economy is stuck in a rut.
The Ifo business-climate index fell to 85.2 in January from 86.3 in December, data from the Ifo Institute showed Thursday. This was worse than forecast by economists, who had expected a slight uptick in sentiment, according to a poll compiled by The Wall Street Journal.
The indicators for the services sector, construction and trade all slid downward on month, with services providers gloomy about their order backlog and worried about their future prospects. Manufacturing was a silver lining, with firms more upbeat on current business and less pessimistic about their future expectations, despite shrinking order books.
For the private sector as a whole, companies assessed their current situation as worse than they had previously, and set out gloomier prognoses for the months ahead.
The data tally with a weak purchasing managers’ index for the month set out earlier this week.
“The German economy is stuck in recession,” said Clemens Fuest, president of the Ifo Institute.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby
